Federal authorities have seized the commercial and personal bank accounts of an Amarillo, Tex-based orthodontist linked to a Medicaid fraud scheme, according to an article in the Amarillo Globe-News. Michael Goodwin, DDS, MS, reportedly scheduled up to 400 Medicaid patients a day and frequently billed the government for orthodontic work he did not perform.

Goodwin billed $1.67 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims between April 2008 and April 2011. The Texas Attorney General’s Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unitreceived information in 2009 that Goodwin billed Medicaid for work done by dental assistants, who worked on patients “at Goodwin’s direction and without his direct supervision while Goodwin was out of town, away from the office or even while present in the office,” according to an affidavit in the case.

In addition to failing to supervise his assistants when they performed work on patients that state law prohibited them from doing, he also scheduled patients in 10-minute increments, putting pressure on assistants to “practice dentistry quickly.” Dental assistants were reportedly “discouraged” from asking Goodwin for help when working on a patient—work that included putting braces on, making adjustments, fixing broken brackets, and removing braces

Approximately 95% of Goodwin Orthodontics’ patients were Medicaid recipients.

Goodwin, who also has an office in Indiana, has not been charged with a crime, according to the article. His Texas dental license is set to expire October 31, 2012, according to the State Board of Dental Examiners. Goodwin also holds two active dental licenses in Indiana.